


Skin

by lyricalaphasia



Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 16:17:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8063260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyricalaphasia/pseuds/lyricalaphasia
Summary: Lately, her skin feels like fire.





	

Lately, her skin feels like fire anytime anything touches it, a stress reaction, she thinks. It flares up more and more the closer they get to Sith space. So she's glad that Canderous isn't like Carth, that he doesn't touch her while she tries to think and that he rolls out of bed as soon as they've finished having sex.

He touches her then, of course, but it's well worth it, and the release seems to counter the pain. It's practically part of her meditation now, and she can tell it clears his mind, too.

Carth used to hold her, face to face when they were happy, but with her back to him when she started remembering again. There's no room for that on the bunks in the _Ebon Hawk_ , and she tells herself she's glad.

She doesn't sleep much, and when she does, it doesn't last long. More often than not, she awakens with a jolt loud enough to catch Canderous' attention. He helps then, whether she needs someone to listen to her worries or to put his mouth between her legs until she can relax again and sleep another hour or two. In any case, he does what needs to be done, and he leaves. (Most of the time, she dreams of Carth.)

They talk less and less when they're awake at the same time. Revan tells herself she's fine with it; what does it matter? It won't be long before she has to leave him behind, too, so she might as well not make that any more difficult.

One day, her skin burns so much that she can't stand his hands on her waist, and she jumps off of him in the middle of everything, apologizing as she runs, naked, to the reserve medical supplies in the cargo hold, glad that T3 is up in the cockpit for the moment. She hears him swear in Mando'a, a language he tends to reserve for his most primal moments. (She supposes this qualifies.)

Finally, she finds what she's looking for: a numbing gel, which she applies in gobs to her sides. As the searing pain finally cools to a dull ache, she hears Canderous take slow, weighted steps toward her. He finds her sitting on the metal floor, all dignity gone.

"I'm so sorry," she says again, "Just give me a minute. I just..."

As she trails off, his gray gaze holds steady. "You need to tell me what's going on," he says.

Words spill out of her; she tells him all about the pain, the sleeplessness, the loneliness she pretended she didn't feel. As she talks, tension starts to leave her back, and by the time she finishes, the pain is completely numb.

Canderous steps toward her, gets down on one knee, and reaches out a hand. At first, Revan doesn't understand, but she takes it. He holds on, tight, and suddenly, she becomes very conscious of her breath. It slows, and so does her heart. She feels pleasant, and she hasn't been able to say that for a long time.

"While we're on this mission," he says, "we're a team. I don't care what happens when we get back to real life and you have a Republic to lead or Sith to fight or whatever comes next. Right now, we are all each other has, and you talk to me when you need anything. Got that?"

She smiles and nods. He helps her to her feet.

"Anything, huh?" she asks with a very specific smirk on her face.

He leans back and locks the cargo hold door. "Anything," he says, "and anywhere."

 


End file.
